Accessories Real leather for making doll shoes?

You might look at kid skin, which is a buttery thin leather used for gloves. I needed some for an antique doll repair & was able to buy a pair of vintage or antique human gloves to cut up. That would be plenty of leather for more than a pair or two.
You might have to add paper or cardstock inside if you want a more crisp leather look.

I've also gone to the thrift store & found an affordable old leather jacket in a reasonable weight to work with for another project.

And another time found a leather worker selling their deer skin scraps by the box full. Small box was still plenty of leather for years! Only catch there would be if there were large enough matching pieces for your project.

Definitely test out patterns with fabric & then leather while you get comfortable with the trucks of show making. Good luck!

 

Have you found this post?
/threads/any-size-dolls-my-first-shoes-my-doll-is-barefoot.764722/

 

I don't work with leather, but my mum used to do a lot of leatherwork pieces. Looking at the pieces of leather we still have at home, I'm going to say cow leather is usually around 4-5mm thick. It's really too much for dolls, especially if you have anyone less than a 1/3. Calfskin is about half of that thickness, though. It can be a good material to work with since it's a lot softer. They do get kinda expensive, but its's still easy enough to get your hands on.

Pigskin leather is even thinner than calfskin, and it's also cheaper. However, because pigskin is so thin, it's hard for it to hold and keep a shape (like the toe box of a shoe). It's still a useable material to consider. There's chicken leather if you are looking for an interesting texture, but they are a bit harder to find.

We have not worked with goat skin or lamb leather, so I can't offer you too much help on that one. And if you don't live in or near Australia, kangaroo leather and ostrich leather would be wildly expensive.

Hope this helps!

 

I have made and plan on making more real leather boots for my dolls.

Spoiler: Probably the best picture I have of them right now

I got very lucky with an ebay purchase of some very thin, very soft real leather remnants, more than enough to make a lot of shoes. I'll grab some and measure how thick it is for you if you want. But I would also suggest looking for leather remnants, you can get a surprising amount for relatively little.

Fire. Fire is the answer to a surprising amount of fabric questions. Take a small piece and try and set it on fire. If it melts and curls, it's pleather. If it starts to brown and chars, it's real. Now that doesn't tell you much about the quality of it but it'll tell you what's real and what isn't. Just make sure you own the item in question before setting fire to it.

I made my lasts out of some out of this slightly squishy superlight airdry clay and that worked well.

In terms of general shoemaking tips from an amateur. You can use thicker leather for the soles depending on how chunky you want them but I tend to use glue saturated felt which can be shaped while wet and comes out rigid and hard.
If you get thin enough leather you can sew it with a regular sharps needle and waxed cotton sewing thread so the thread doesn't look quite so out of scale to the doll (more of a problem for my 1/4 scale dolls than your 1/3rd scale dolls).
Cereal box cardboard works really well as an inner sole
Check the back side of your leather, you may need to line it. My wonderfully soft shoe leather's underside will shed black specks like nobody's business so next pair of shoes, I'm going to glue some cotton to the back of it. If you used slightly heavier weight canvas you could probably stiffen the leather more.
Shape the outer soles before hotgluing them to the inner soles, attempting to trim later may result in catching the leather

 

@Lillith made a very nice pair of leather shoes for JWD recently, maybe the post is helpful to see.

Iffy leather can often still be saved! The main problem is usually that the leather is too dry, but if there are no visible cracks and holes yet, a little cleaning and using leather conditioner can go a long way on items like that.

 

The two main things that will determine how leather behaves is tanning method, part of the hide and animal type.

There are many different ways to tan leather, but the two that are most relevant here is chromium tan and veg. tan.
Chromium tan is very stable and a bit cheaper, but it does "kill" the leather, making it behave a bit like faux leather. It can not be wet shaped, hardened or dyed using permanent leather dyes. It's also very bad for the environment and there are a lot of safety concerns for workers surrounding it, so be aware of that if you are looking for a more ethical or sustainable alternative to faux leather. It should not be incinerated or end up in a landfill, so make sure to sort your waste properly according to local laws.
Veg. tanned leather is a bit more expensive and may require some care over time, but with that care it can last centuries. It can take a lot of different traditional leather treatments making it a very versatile option. It's much safer to produce, use and dispose of, so it is the superior choice if that is your motivation.

About animals:
Cow, ox, calf etc. gives firm leather that doesn't stretch easily.
Goat and sheep have stretchy leather, especially when worked wet.
Deer, elk etc. are a bit in-between. These have the quirk that they sometimes loose the grain surface in the tanning process.
Pig is stretchy, but not very strong and can rip easily if it's too thin for the application.
Odd leathers like fish and chicken can sometimes be found from specialist stores. (My favorite unusual leather is chicken leg, it gives something that looks like a miniature reptile hide and is super cool, but expensive and rare to find.)

Thickness is something that is decided in production. Most leathers can be found in thin versions, because skins are split into layers. Really thin leathers are skived or "shaved" down from the back until the desired thickness is achieved. If you want paper thin leather, check out book binding supplies and doll house miniature making supplies.
The grain is the typical leather surface that we usually think of, but the lower layers are also used and sold. If you find leather with a suede surface it is just as likely the lower part of a hide as it is to be real suede leather, especially if the price seems a bit too good. If the whole thickness of the hide is used they will typically advertise that, as it's much stronger, but that is usually only relevant for very thick leather and probably not what you need for doll shoes.

Dolls don't wear their shoes out much, nor do they get blisters or sore feet, so unlike real shoe making all you have to worry about is looks and how easy the shoe is to put on and take off by a human. Dolls can't flex their feet of wiggle their toes, so you need more space in a doll shoe than in a real shoe (proportionally speaking, of course) and human sized fingers sometimes struggle with dolls sized clasps and laces. You may have to design the shoe with that in mind.

All this is about the leather, not the making or the tools, so there is a lot more to say. but i don't want to swamp you with a wall of text that may or may not be helpful.

I've done a lot of leather work in my day, including some doll shoes, so feel free to ask more questions and I'll share what I know, with the caveat that I don't know all the technical terms in English.

 

I have been enjoying watching book binding videos by Four Keys Book Arts on youtube and have learned that part of binding books in leather is paring and bevelling the leather... thinning it down from behind by shaving it with a sharp blade. I'll post a link below to a recent video where he's doing this and narrating what he's doing. ...Not that you would necessarily have the tools or want to try this, but just to point out that it's possible.

Link with timestamp - or skip to 14:34

 

Here's an example. My leather belt is 4mm thick, so it'll be sold as 10 oz in this shop. Shoe leather are usually much thinner. Having a ruler or a pair of calipers really help to put things into perspective. I find that helpful to me to make sense of things.

Oh, and another silly way (for me, anyway) to see if the leather on an already-finished piece is real or not: check the seams or any other injuries to the surface that you may find. Leather do not fray at the seams. Manmade "fake leather" is made by spraying a layer of soft polyurethane on top of a woven material. So when this is cut or scuffed, the edges of the woven material will show.

Looks like you have a lot of people helping you out. Good luck with your leather experiment!

 

I'm happy to help!
This will be a long post, fel free to skip over anything you feel doesn't apply. I'll do tools and making here and leather care in a separate post, to keep it some what readable.

Making: There are two main methods for putting doll shoes together. You can either sew or glue them, or use a combination.
Sewing: Sewing uppers can be done on a regular sewing machine, since the leather is thin and supple. You may need to come up with workarounds to make the machine feed the material evenly, since the leather can be a bit "grippy" and stick to the presser foot or other parts of the machine. Placing a piece of paper under the work can help, this can be torn away once the seam is finished. Covering the leather in a thin coating of talcum powder is another option. There are special presser feet that have rollers or non-stick surfaces that may be worth trying out as well. I prefer a thin sharp needle, like a microtex 70 or similar for sewing thin leather. They do sell sewing machine needles made specifically for leather, but they have a cutting point and tend to weaken the leather unnecessarily and you don't typically need them for anything this thin. Don't use too short stitches as thet can cause the leather to be perforated and split. Basically just test everything out on scraps until you find a method that works for you.
If you want to make historical shoes and assemble the soles and uppers by sewing, you need to do that by hand.
Glue: Contact cement is very useful for shoe making. Because it bonds instantly it makes it quick to use and the easiest I've found when it comes to avoiding wrinkles, because once you've but something in it's place, it won't shift or move. Of coarse, this also means no second chances. Make sure you have a plan, don't try to invent as you go.
Slower drying glues can also be used, but they will require you to figure out a way to fix everything in place while it dries. If you have a last you can pin into, you could try that. Basting things together is also a possibility, but can be a bit messy and time consuming.
PVA glue can be used to stiffen fabric for internal toe caps and similar, but I rarely find it necessary. With doll shoes it's usually more important to keep bulk and stiffness down than to encourage it, but it does of course depend on scale and shoe type.

The main difference in working with leather compared to fabric, cardboard, faux leather etc. is that it can be shaped with a lot more freedom. Some types can be wet shaped and will retain their shape when dry. Even when worked dry, leather can be stretched to shape around the last and hammered into shape to conform to the shape of the shoe, making it much easier to avoid wrinkles compared to when working with fabric. Because of this, I much rather use a leather insole than a cardboard one. This way I can make a shoe that is shoe shaped on the inside as well and this allows the shoe to be over all smaller as it does away with some extra space. This is helpful for making shoes look realistic and in scale, especially for small dolls where the clown shoe look is always a problem.

I make lasts out of polymer clay, because I have experience with the material and I have plenty on hand, but anything that can be made to shape and gives a firm surface that can withstand light hammer blows can be used. Wood, epoxy putty, etc. Even air dry clay and papier maché is an option, although that will limit your options for working with wet leather.
The main thing to remember when making lasts is that you are making a mold for the inside of a shoe. It shouldn't look like a foot. it shouldn't look like a shoe.

The main tools I use for assembly is a pair of needle nose pliers (for pulling and sticking the edge of the uppers to the sole), a small mirror faced hammer (for flattening edges, for making sure the contact cement is well bonded, for forcing stubborn folds into submission and for the shaping of the insole, outsole and heel) and a thin bladed craft knife (for trimming off excess, for thinning out edges etc.). The knife needs to be kept very sharp, so keep extra blades or a way of sharpening it on hand as well.
A few more things that are nice to have on hand, but can be done without are: bone folder or planishing bone (for flattening down seam allowances and smooth down cut edges), a slim awl (for making holes for laces or facilitate any tacking or basting that may need doing) and some sand paper of fairly high grit and good quality (for thinning out leather and for smoothing cut edges, when needed).
Additional tools may be needed depending on design, of course.

Edit to add image of tools:

 

So the leather that I have is a tiny bit over 1mm thick. Which I think makes it 3oz leather.

I don't know if it would work, I've never tried attaching that sort of clay to resin before. But I will say that I've never needed my lasts to have legs attached, the leg part gets done with a measuring tape and a quick cotton mockup if absolutely necessary.

 

A lot to unpack here, I'll try to break it down, but if it gets too confusing, just ask me to clarify.

1. Leather is generally quite stable and can last a very long time, but it can be damaged if not looked after.
Break down due to rot, mold, insects and rodents can happen if things are stored away and forgotten about, but is very unlikely to be a problem when an item is actively used in a modern home. So in that regard, you could say that simply keeping an eye on things is the number one form of care.
2. A more relevant danger is the leather drying out. All leather can do this and high temperatures and a dry climate will make this happen faster. The most common way to prevent this is to add things to the leather to keep it from drying out. Oil, grease, wax etc. are all traditionally used in different combinations depending on what properties are desired. You can buy leather care products from the same places that sell tools for leather working, but you can also use things like plant oil it you want a cheaper option (I usually use raps-seed oil, since it doesn't have much of a smell and doesn't go bad over time). You don't need anything fancy. Real leather care products are made to counter the effects of repeated wetting and drying, salt from modern roads, repeated stress from walking etc. No matter how many outdoor photo shoots you do, your dolls shoes will never get close to that, so you don't need anything crazy.
A light application of oil when the shoe is new, wipe off any excess and leave it for a few days to make sure there is no more oil leaching out is a good way to give your shoes a good start. After that you probably don't need to do much for years, but referring back to point one; keeping an eye on them is going to make all the difference. Redo it if the leather starts to feel papery or dry. Doing it right away is going to be more efficient than waiting, because ideally you are not actually replacing the natural moisture in the leather, you are trying to keep it from escaping in the first place.
3. If a leather item is left forgotten about and has dried out significantly, it may still be rescued by a generous application of oil. This can be left to soak for days if needed and the excess then removed with patience. Leave for a few days, wipe down with paper towels or cotton wool, leave again and repeat until no more oil leaches out. Then the item can be carefully coaxed back into shape. It will never be like new, but it may still have some use left in it. Veg. tanned leather is really cool like that. Mold can be killed, dyes can be reapplied etc. It's not indestructible, but it does give a lot of opportunity for keeping stuff around for a long long time, should you want to.

The downsides of oil: This is the main argument in favor chromium tanned leather, as it tends to need minimum care.
Oil isn't great for plastics.
This includes the dolls themselves. Making sure that there is no excess oil leaching out (leave the shoe on a piece of white printer paper over night, if there is no oil stain all is good) and using the shoes with thin socks takes care of that.
Another thing to consider is the glue used. This may also not love oils and excessive exposure can make the glue deteriorate faster. Even under the best conditions the glue will break down long before the leather does. The good news is that glue can simply be reapplied and the shoe repaired and we are talking about several decades, here. It's unlikely to happen more than maybe once within the original makers lifetime, unless the glue is of poor quality or there are other factors (such as high temperatures or high humidity) involved.

About flaking:
Some leather, like deer and elk, are naturally prone to shed the grain layer of the leather. For these leathers this is mostly a cosmetic issue and doesn't weaken the leather much.
I have seen chromium tanned leather flake under some circumstances, but that has usually been a direct consequence of wear, such as the edges of purse straps and similar. It doesn't typically flake spontaneously.
Some leathers have surface treatments, such as paints, glossy coatings or other things applied. These may beak down long before the leather and that will appear as flaking, even if the actual leather underneath is intact.

But this brings us to something of a proverbial elephant in the room of sourcing leather:
Some modern made leathers are not made from an intact animal skin, but rather uses off-cuts, ground down to a powder and suspended in silicone or pvc to create a very realistic leather-like material. In some places this can be legally sold as "genuine leather" because it does in fact consist mainly of real leather. This behaves more like real leather than traditional faux leathers does, but does have the downside of only being as strong as the binder material used, unlike ordinary faux leather, there is no woven ground to reinforce it. This stuff is fine for things that only need a superficial leather look and isn't expected to stand the test of time, but it doesn't hold up well to wear and if traditional leather care products is used on it, it can break down even faster. The surface is sometimes given a leather grain appearance by applying a thin layer of straight PVC, meaning that the surface has the same problems as common faux leather, in that it breaks down with time. If the surface breaks down at a faster rate then the main body of the material, you will get superficial flaking all over.
When the material starts to break down, it tends to crumble. This is a rather characteristic effect and the easiest way to identify an item made from this stuff. While real leather tend to split along creases or gradually wear through, this stuff starts to crumble and small pieces breaks off, usually along stress points or edges. There is no way to rescue this, the item has simply reached the end of it's life.
For a new item in good condition it's very difficult to tell apart from ordinary chromium tanned leather just buy touch and look and pretty much impossible to judge when just seeing it on a screen. Add to that the problem of people selling stuff they don't know much about, as is often the case if you are shopping second hand, or from random places that just sells a little bit of everything. This stuff has only been on the market for a couple of decades and because it looks like ordinary leather, many people don't even realize it exists.
Burn tests are not reliable either, as this stuff is mostly leather it will burn like chromium tanned leather does (reluctant green-ish flame).
The good news is that a real leather supplier will not intentionally lie about this stuff. This is a legitimate product and has it's uses, and there is no reason for them to try to sell it as something it is not. But anywhere else you need to be careful.

I know it's a lot, but hopefully it's at least somewhat useful.
Best of luck with your shoe making!

 

I'd say it depends on your skill with a hammer. A larger hammer may make it difficult to control the force of the blows and if it's too big, you may have a problem getting the blows in the right place as some surfaces are concave. But if you have the skills, you may be able to get away with it. You don't need to hit very hard.
Mine is a small one bought in a hardware store that I have modified by grinding down the edges and polishing the surface. I originally prepared it to use it for hammer polishing metal work, but it can be used for both crafts interchangeably as long as I keep the surface in good condition. I added a picture to post #12
What you don't want is a hammer with a rough surface, because it will transfer to the leather. Don't use the same hammer that you use for setting rivets or driving nails.

The lasts need to be just big enough to allow the dolls foot to fit inside. Slightly bigger if you want to the doll to be able to wear socks. Beyond that, it's the shape that's important. You'll want to account for the desired toe shape of the shoe, the over all height and outline.
Looking at human lats is a great idea. That will give you a good starting point.
Here are a few pictures of the shoes i made for the critique thread that was linked earlier, showing the bare foot, the last and the shoe.


And here is the shoe worn as intended with a pair of thin socks, next to the last:


I'll have to get back to your other questions later.

 

I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. If you want a sturdier shoe, just use thicker leather and save yourself some work. If you look at sturdy leather shoes for humans, like classic doc martens and similar, they are not typically lined.
If you want to line the shoe to protect the doll from the leather, a textile lining will do the job, but wearing the shoe with a sock is probably still a good idea.
If you are set on a leather lining, this may be one of the situations when chromium tanned leather is right for the job. It behaves and ages differently, so it doesn't typically need as much help from oils and other products.
With any glued in lining, the weak link when it comes to how long the shoe can last over time is going to be the glue, so take that into consideration as well.
No matter what you chose, it will be a trade of. Best thing is probably to try a few different methods out and see witch one you like best.

I'm not sure I understand the question. I was talking about surface treatments (such as vinyl paints) added to real leather as a possible cause for flaking.
For faux leather, this is not relevant because it's the soft vinyl that makes up the "leather look" part of the material itself that will typically break down first and cause the classic cracking, pealing and flaking we often see in old doll shoes. Soft plastics like this contain softening chemicals that are very unstable and will cause the material to break down over time. You see the same in any soft vinyl products, like old toys as well. This breaking down would likely cause any added paints or other surface treatments to lift and flake off as well, but at that point, the item is breaking down anyway, so it won't matter much.

 

Oh, I think I see what you are saying now, I assumed you used the term "patent leather" as a substitute for synthetic leathers and not just the synthetic surface. My bad.
Glossy leather like that can be made in several ways. The traditional way is to compress and then buff the surface using waxes and other products and as far as I know can be maintained over time quite well (although wax can oxidize and turn matte, it can be buffed up again).
But anything quite as shiny as the image you linked to is likely a PVC surface (provided the image has not been edited to look glossier than it is). PVC is the same stuff used for most faux leathers. It does break down over time and oils and grease can speed that process up and it can peel when that happens. I believe there have been experiments using polyurethane coatings as well, with all the pros and cons that should be familiar to us in the BJD world. I don't know how common those products are in the market, though. Likely, a wide range of other materials have been used as well.
For human shoes, this is not as bad, as they are expected to be worn out long before the materials break down from age. And even then, all materials are not created equal. I have items in both my own and my doll's wardrobes that are decades old that are still as good as new, while others started to break down within a few years. Soft plastics are always going to be a bit of a gamble.